Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
The 10 Economic Experts Who Advise our PM
By siliconindia
|
Friday, 30 September 2011, 01:43 IST |
4 Comments
4. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission:
Montek Singh Ahluwalia was born in New Delhi, India. He studied at St. Patrick's High School, Secunderabad, Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, and Bishop Cotton School Shimla, then graduated with a B.A. (Hons) degree from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, University of Delhi. He received the BA (Hons) degree as a Rhodes scholar from the University of Oxford having studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. He also studied for a BPhil in Economics at Oxford University, which the university later reclassified as an MPhil. While at Oxford, he was the president of the prestigious Oxford Union.
Ahuluwalia, after graduating from University of Oxford, joined the World Bank during the tenures of Hollis Chenery and Robert MacNamara. At the age of 28, he became the youngest "Division Chief" in the World Bank's bureaucracy. He joined the government in 1979 as Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance after which he held a series of positions, including Special Secretary to the Prime Minister; Commerce Secretary; Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs; Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Member of the Planning Commission and Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.
Montek was widely criticized for defending the data that people who spent 
32 in urban areas in a day are not poor. "We have not made any new policy decision. The Supreme Court asked us how we calculate the poverty line, we gave the factual explanation. I believe the explanation we have given is factually correct," Ahluwalia, who is here to attend the first India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, told the Indian media.
"That it how the poverty lines are set up and that is how poverty lines are updated," he said commenting for the first time after the controversy broke following an affidavit filed by the Planning Commission in the Supreme Court.
32 in urban areas in a day are not poor. "We have not made any new policy decision. The Supreme Court asked us how we calculate the poverty line, we gave the factual explanation. I believe the explanation we have given is factually correct," Ahluwalia, who is here to attend the first India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, told the Indian media.
"That it how the poverty lines are set up and that is how poverty lines are updated," he said commenting for the first time after the controversy broke following an affidavit filed by the Planning Commission in the Supreme Court.
